Restaurant Details

Beginning in 1888, the booze-distributing House of Glunz operated a tavern next door to its Old Town wine shop, but after Prohibition, the space was mostly used for storage until late last year, when Barbara Glunz and her son Christopher Donovan spiffed the place up with a combination of family heirlooms and fixtures from other historical establishments like the Berghoff.
As you might expect, there's a broad selection of spirits, beers, and wines, marked up at varying levels of acceptability: it's absurd to pay $15 for a pour of Templeton Rye, yet a glass of the simple but elegant Bordeaux Cuvee Nicolas Barreyre runs a reasonable $9. The Glunz family has also brought in consulting chef Alan Sternweiler of the Butcher & the Burger, who's developed a largely German menu with things like wiener schnitzel, sausages and kraut, and apple strudel, along with more typical American bar food and French bistro nourriture like deviled eggs, a burger, a fillet, buttered frogs' legs, and sweetbreads and snails. It's a thoughtful selection that marries tradition with contemporary expectations, epitomized in a sort of German mac 'n' cheese, or späetzle uberbacken, a cast-iron crock full of gooey, stretchy Gruyere larded with bits of Black Forest ham, stretched over ruddy pasta.

Bar Details

Beginning in 1888, the Glunz family operated a tavern next door to its Old Town wine shop, House of Glunz, but after Prohibition the space was mostly used for storage until Barbara Glunz and her son Christopher Donovan spiffed the place up with heirlooms and historical artifacts. As you might expect, there's a broad selection of spirits, beers, and wines, marked up at varying levels of acceptability: it's absurd to pay $15 for a pour of Templeton Rye, yet a glass of the simple but elegant Bordeaux Cuvee Nicolas Barreyre runs a reasonable $9. —Mike Sula